It was the last day of school and the bell was about to ring when the lights went out and the widow fell to the floor with a crash. Kids ducked for cover. Four winged teenagers stood framed in the window. There were three boys and one girl. A boy with shaggy blond hair and bright pink wings said," I think this is the mortal class that Ariana is in," he seemed to be the leader of the group. Ariana pushed herself deeper under her desk as she heard her. A pretty girl with long brown gold hair asked, "How will we know which mortal is Ariana? "

"I'll know. She is my sister, after all. Plus, she has the crescent mark on her cheek," said the boy. "Spread and search," he ordered to the teens around him. A boy with curly black hair found me first. He grabbed Ariana's arm and called to the others, "Found her!"

Ariana tried to wrestle her arm free but the boy's grip was too tight. The blond boy came over. "Good job, Cobweb," he said while grabbing Ariana by the shoulders. He took off, spreading his huge pink wings behind him. He sped through the broken window, and out into the woods behind the school where a train was parked in midair. Royal blue letters on the side read," Oberon's Dream" in curly lettering. He kicked open a door on the side of the train and zoomed inside. He flew down the hallway, and stopped at a door with a gold plaque that read "Princess Ariana" on it. He threw open this door and practically chucked Ariana inside. Then he slammed the door and locked it. Ariana stopped yelling and blinked. Around her was a chamber fit for a princess. She saw a letter on the dresser then opened it. It read:

Change into one of the dresses you'll find in the closet. Brush your hair and put on a crown. Do this every morning. At night, bathe and change into one of your nightgowns. If you get hungry, ring the bell near the dumbwaiter. Otherwise, meals will be sent up at eight 'o'clock, twelve 'o' clock, and six 'o' clock, for meals, along with three 'o'clock afternoon tea and eight 'o' clock evening tea. DO NOT RING THE BELLS ON THE SHELF ABOVE YOUR BED! Wait until someone comes to your room and tells you can. Until then, explore your room. We have provided everything a young princess might need or enjoy. No one must know that you are her

Even if you are in here for weeks, do not ring the bells. Keep yourself presentable, as the king and queen could request an audience with you at any time.

That was the entire note said. Ariana decided to explore the room. It had blue walls, and blue carpet, and a blue ceiling with actual silver stars encrusted with diamonds and moonstones, along with a large silver crescent moon with diamonds and moonstones as well. Ariana thought they seemed to glow. She tried closing the drapes and when the room was dark she discovered that they did. She reopened the drapes and continued to explore. There was a blue four poster bed that had a canopy that could roll up so she could sleep under the precious silver sky. She rolled back the thick silk curtains and tried the mattress. It was huge and soft, like down. The bed was made with a thick satin comforter stuffed with down, and there was a huge pile of soft blue pillows, very neatly arranged. Ariana carefully peeled back the covers to reveal baby blue silk sheets and a thick blue blanket made of an unbelievably soft material. She looked to the end of the bed and found her battered leather suitcase full of her most prized possessions from her boarding school. She closed the suitcase, rolled back the canopy, and continued exploring. She came to a door with a gold knob and walked and found herself in a bathroom with a tile floor. But not just any tile floor. This tile floor had tiles of lapis lazuli, ruby, gold, silver, diamond and thousand other precious gems that made up beautiful scenes from fairy tales. A curtained off space was where she assumed was the toilet. The bathtub was unbelievable. It was the size of a swimming pool, and had a shallow end and a deep end. The tub had many golden faucets, and a solid gold soap dish encrusted with gems. Inside the dish was a blue bar of soap that smelled like a summer's day. A shelf built into the huge tub held glass bottles of shampoo, conditioner, body wash, lotion, and a bunch of other stuff that only princesses had to use. They all smelled like summer in a meadow. A pouf of soft silk hung from a gold hook. Ariana exited the bathroom and reentered the main room. She noticed a pine dresser on the other side of the room. The drawers held necklaces, bracelets, rings, and barrettes. A gold box encrusted with jewels held a beautiful crown of curling white gold with beautiful gems set in to the curling metal .It was too beautiful to put in words. She closed the box, and continued exploring her room. A pine desk covered in fine gold leaf set against a wall. Ariana sat on the high-backed, elegantly carved chair by the desk and opened the top drawer. It contained fine brushes with silver handles and jars of paint, along with several bottles of blue ink and a few of red and black. The drawer also contained many fine quill pens ranging from peacock to eagle to turkey. Ariana opened the next drawer, which held neat, stacks of different sized sheets and rolls of parchment. The next drawer contained fine blank leather-bound volumes, obviously for writing in. One each the words "Princess Ariana" was printed in rich gold leaf. Ariana closed the drawer and stood up. Her feet sank deep into the royal blue carpet. Ariana noticed a trunk at the foot of her bed. She opened it and found that was full of toys such as stuffed unicorns, fairy dolls, huge stuffed dragons, elf dolls, mermaid dolls, and many other toys like this with clothes for all of the dolls. Ariana closed the trunk and noticed a gigantic elaborate dollhouse on the other side of the room. Deciding to check it out later, Ariana continued exploring. She opened the only other door she hadn't gone through, Inside was a huge walk in closet. On one wall there was an ornate mirror with a silver frame. The others had beautiful floaty dresses, all in blue, purple, or green. There were also beautiful nightgowns, rangy from a gauzy material for summer to soft fur for winter. These too were all in blue, purple or green. The dresses for winter had beautiful white capes to go with them, and the dresses for summer were gauzy and sleeveless, with matching parasols for each one. Ariana remembered the instructions in her letter, and chose one of the pretty blue summer dresses off of the shelf. She turned to leave, but decided to take the parasol. She grabbed it, and then headed for the dresser. Ariana took an ornate silver hairbrush, her tiara, and some blue sapphire necklaces, earrings, and bracelets. Ariana suddenly looked down at her dirty shoes and realized with embarrassment that she had tracked mud all through the compartment. She removed the offending sneakers and checked the closet for shoes, and found a matching blue pair with a style like ballet slippers. Ariana walked across the room again and headed for the bathroom. She undressed from her dirty school clothes and turned on the largest tap. Out gushed warm water the same scent as the bottles on the shelf. She turned on the others. One gushed floating blue bubbles, another poured thick lavender foam that supported her weight, another poured fizzy blue water, another spilled the summer's day perfume, and there were many more. Once the golden tub was full, Ariana swam some laps, bathed, then got out. She changed into the gauzy, sleeveless dress, slippers, and jewelry, and then put on her tiara. Ariana was getting rather hungry, so she tried ringing the bell by the dumbwaiter. Soon a silver tea service came up. She lifted the lid. There lay a silver teapot and matching cup, a cut diamond dish of assorted berries. And a tray of cookies. She ate and drank, then paused when she was about to send the dumbwaiter back down. She raced to her desk, removed a quill, ink and a piece of parchment and wrote neatly

Is anyone there?

Then sent it down with the quill and ink and dishes.

Soon a note came back up.

Yes

Ariana wrote:

Who are you?

No one of any importance

What is your name? What do you do? Who are you?

Bluebelle is my name. I am a slave. I am no one.

Come up to visit me as soon as you can. You are someone I would like to meet.

I cannot. You are above me.

I order you. At least try.

I'll come at eight, if you insist.

Perfect! Can you please bring tea when you come? BE SURE to bring double everything.

Alright. I will try.

Bring a change of clothes with you, and anything else you need. I order you to spend the night in my apartment.

If milady insists

Perfect! See you at eight. Ariana wrote. She didn't receive a response, but thought she heard yelling from below. Ariana waited. She heard high heels clicking, and got the strange feeling that she was being watched, so she decided to play innocent. She removed the dolls and began setting up an immense setup near the dollhouse, with dragons and knights and a princess. Eventually the strange feeling went away, and Ariana left for her desk. While she was walking she noticed the oddest thing. Her muddy footprints had disappeared. So had her shoes. Even her clothes from the boarding school had vanished, but thankfully not the battered old suitcase with her favorite things inside. Ariana felt strange. She continued to the desk, and then began writing in one of the blank volumes. At six, her dinner came. It was roast chicken. Salad, steamed corn, a dish of berries, a pomegranate, and chocolate ice cream with chocolate sauce, whipped cream, a cheery, and raspberries. At seven, she bathed again and changed into one of the blue silk nightgowns. Finally, eight 'o' clock came around. Ariana heard the dumbwaiter door slide open and out stepped a tiny girl. Barely four feet tall, had the girl sunk into a deep curtsy. She wore a neatly pressed light blue dress with a white apron, white stockings, and Mary Jane type shoes. She had immense violet eyes and long brown braids tied with perfect bows that matched her dress. Her braids were so long they reached her calves. The girl said,"Hello, milady. I am Bluebelle." and curtsied again. The girl was carrying a silver tea service with double everything just as Ariana had ordered, and she was clutching a small bag, which Ariana assumed were her overnight things. "Thank you," Ariana said. "Can you please set the tray down on the table? "She gestured to a table in a corner of the room. The girl, well, Bluebelle, quickly set it down. Now that she wasn't carrying the tray, she was visibly trembling. She was probably mortified because she was in the presence of a princess. Ariana said," Please. Sit." Bluebelle looked shocked by being asked to sit by a princess to sit, but she sat. Ariana pulled up the chair across from her and smiled. She removed the cover off of the service and leaned over and gave Bluebelle a cup and saucer. Ariana arranged the dishes neatly then took a cup and saucer for herself. She poured tea into both cups, and then asked,"Would you like any milk or sugar?" Bluebelle looked like she was trying to figure out what would be the most respectful answer. She finally said,"Perhaps a bit, milady," and looked down. Ariana added three heaping spoonfuls of sugar and a huge helping of milk into Bluebelle's tea. Ariana gave her a plate and took one for herself. She put three cookies on each plate and bade Bluebelle to eat. So she did. Ariana started chattering to Bluebelle, in hopes of getting her to talk and behave less like a slave and more like a real friend. Ariana asked her questions which she answered briefly and respectfully. Finally, Ariana said ,"I hope we can become very good friends, you and I," Bluebelle looked extremely uncomfortable. She seemed to like Ariana, but she didn't want to offend her and all of her training was going against it. Ariana finally said," Please. I know that I am a princess, but you are a person, correct? And you are a girl my age. I think you and I would be great friends. I don't want any more of this milady stuff. Call me Ariana. We are friends. We should be able to be open and frank with each other. Please?" she asked. Bluebelle looked relieved. "I would really truly want to be friends with you, but, my…. Mistress would be most displeased. Please Ariana, she cannot know. "

"Well, I won't tell her, but why can't she? " Ariana asked, confused.

"Because You are a princess, and I was born into servitude. She would be angry. "

"Well you go tell your Mistress that the princess requested you become my personal lady in waiting. If she says anything, she will hear from ME. "

'Alright. Thank you. "Bluebelle said. She really did look glad. The two girls, now open between each other, became fast friends.

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